Chris Stapleton fans were greeted with the unfortunate news Wednesday morning (5-31) that Chris Stapleton will not be making scheduled appearances at eight separate shows, and has also canceled his appearance at the upcoming CMA Fest in Nashville. Shows in California scheduled to start Thursday, June 1st in Fresno, in Mississippi and Alabama next weekend, as well as a round of shows in two weeks in West Virginia, Ohio, and Indiana will all be rescheduled according to the Chris Stapleton camp. See the full list of dates below.

The postponements also affect the opening acts. Brothers Osborne and Lucie Silvas were scheduled to open the California dates, while Anderson East and Brent Cobb were scheduled to open the Southern and Midwest appearances.

The biggest point of inquiry at the moment is why the dates are being postponed, especially for people concerned about Stapleton, and for people who were planning to travel and now have to significantly rearrange plans. No reason for the cancellations were given, just “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Hold on to your tickets for now, and stay tuned for updates … Thank you for your patience and support.”

Saving Country Music has reached out to multiple people in the Chris Stapleton camp, and so far no explanation has been provided. If one is forthcoming, this story will be updated. However if Chris Stapleton or his camp wanted to share the reason for the cancellations, they likely would have done so in their initial statement. It might be a personal matter of which details may be shared in the future, and are being kept private for personal reasons at the moment.

Chris Stapleton has been forced to cancel appearances last minute in the past. His show last year at the Santa Barbara Bowl on April 26th was postponed due to vocal strain.

I have a friend connected with the crew that said Chris had injured one of his fingers. Take it for what it’s worth. Either way, I hope it is nothing serious and he can get some rest. He has been killing it lately. Was scheduled to see him in Indy and at Wrigley with Tom Petty… can definitely wait on Indy.

I hope everything is all right with Chris. And that he and his team figure out a better future plan….bc it seems like he’s having problems with cancellations. Can’t remember another big name canceling multiple shows back to back yrs (I could be wrong).

This is not just about the nature of the injury, though I think there is a way these shows could go forward without Stapleton playing guitar. It’s the fact that people deserve an explanation, and to not worry that this is some serious matter. We still don’t even know that it’s a hand injury. This is the information from “unnamed sources.” This is a country music tour, not the Russian investigation. People have plane flights booked and hotel rooms to attend these shows. And they’re worried this could be a very serious matter due to the length of the cancellations. A little clarity would go a long, long way. So why are folks being kept in the dark?

It does sound like it’s more than that. I heard voice issues but really it could be anything. He seems like a hard working dude, so it could be something bigger and they just don’t want to disclose it.

i saw this when i was getting ready for work this morning. could be anythong, a death in his or Morgane’s family, perhaps Morgane herself caught some bad news, health related or otherwise. For all we know she’s preggers! we could spend all day speculating but i’m not Alex Jones (thank God) so i am just gonna keep him and his crew in my thoughts. glad he disn’t straight up cancle those dates…but i really can’t imagine him doing something like that in the first place. seems like a really nice guy from all the interviews i have read or watched. let’s hope all is well and this badass country soul-singer gets back in gear soon. ?